Mrs. Roosevelt Honored by U.j.a.; N.Y. Drive Passes $18, 000, 000 Mark

Contributions to the United Jewish Appeal of Greater New York’s 1952 campaign passed the $18, 000, 000 mark tonight at a dinner in honor of Mrs. Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the Grand Ballroom of the Hotel Pierre. Three hundred guests at the dinner announced more than $500, 000 in pledges to the drive.

Mrs. Roosevelt, who will serve as chairman for the month of June for the United Jewish Appeal of Greater New York, expressed her conviction that the U.J.A. agencies, which have been resettling in Israel, the United States and other free lands survivors of Nazi persecution and victims of oppression in Middle Eastern and Iron Curtain countries, have been of great significance in extending human rights and furthering the democratic cause.

Ambassador Abba Eban of Israel said although Israel is weaker than most nations in all the usual attributes of power, its true strength lies in its “power of liberation” for the homeless and oppressed. Israel wields this power with the help of Americans through the United Jewish Appeal, which finances the immigration and absorption of newcomers to Israel, he stated.

Edward M.M. Warburg, general chairman of the United Jewish Appeal, said that there have been three years during which Americans have decisively influenced the course of history through their support of the United Jewish Appeal. The first was 1946, when U.J.A. aid saved the lives of more than a million Jewish survivors of Nazi persecution. The second was 1948, when the people of Israel, defending their newly declared independence against attack, needed help. The third is 1952, when the Israelis are in the midst of an unparalleled battle for economic survival.

Governor Thomas E. Dewey was enrolled as a volunteer worker for the United Jewish Appeal when he accepted the post of honorary chairman of Leadership Mobilization yesterday. The Governor urged citizens of New York State to “support the current United Jewish Appeal campaign to the fullest possible extent, both in the generosity of their gifts and the devotion of their service to this great cause.”